Bob Dylan, "Love and Theft"

my take is love and theft much like most dylan albums is a great album...its high points , however, are not as high as time out of mind's high points (say not dark yet) but its more consistent..

its a great record as a tribute to AMERICAN MUSIC>.its got bluegrass, country, rock and folk and the kitchen sink in it...

i wish he had used the arrangement sheryl crow used on mississippi(he gave her the song to record before he recorded it) instead of slowing it down like he did.....

i think its hard not to like love and theft...BUT its not an album that moves me as much as other parts of his ouevre...

i can't wait for him to release another one but i'm pretty sure its going to be a few years.. he only releases albums to drum up business for his shows.. he has no real interest in recording... thats pretty apparent...

He might have done a 180 on this later, but he did give a blurb for "Invisible Republic," I believe it was.

As for the album, I love L&T even more than TOOM. I think it's off base to say he's not much interested in recording when he put so much work into these two records. He even booted Lanois off the L&T sessions because he wanted a different sound. His interest has obviously been rekindled.

And while musicians seldom, ah, intrude on Dylan's creations, Charlie Sexton may be the worst guitarist ever for him. A much worse presence than the Dreaded Lanois, which is saying something. Fako Americana effect. I'd rather hear Dylan sing 'We Three' then try to rewrite it.

Slow

down.

--didn't like it much. I hardly remember what it sounded like. Slow Train Comin' might be embarrassing lyrically at times, but musically, I'll take it over Love & Theft. But then, I think Slow Train Comin' is pretty good.

The notion that he only records to drum up business for his shows is nonesense. Dylan is one of the only musicians outside of jazz who actually tours whether he has an album to promote or not. It is true that he has little patience for the recording process - but he tours relentlessly - it matters not if his latest record is 3 years old or 3 weeks old - he does not tour to promote records and he does not make records to promote tours. He records when he has new songs and he tours because he loves playing live.

the late '90s live versions of 'love sick' etc are kind of incredible

Some of the songs are better than others (the album gets snoozy at times). And the playing is a little too dull and "old-guy professional" for my taste (it makes me think of a talk show band). But I like everything about "Mississippi." And I think the lyrics are really entertaining and sharp all the way through.

And his voice... man oh man... it's just one of my favorite things in the world.

(I haven't heard any of the albums between Under the Red Sky and this one.)

greil marcus' invisible republic is shite. its just a bunch of mumbo jumbo.. he goes way too far in his analysis... thats my opinion of course....

and i love self portrait too!

i didn't mean to imply that no one but dylan had touched that blurb. perhaps his manager did write it (but i wonder how you are so sure), but in any event dylan signed off on it. it's not as though his name appears under blurbs terribly often.

"invisible republic" is only like 10% "about" dylan's songs anyway.

Levon Helm book blurb #3. I agree that if it had his imprint, what's the diff, but you REALLY think it sounds like him?

"Greil Marcus has done it again."

sorry .. i don't think we are going to reach agreement on this...

Decent, but "Time Out Of Mind" destroys it. And there was no need to give the best song to Sheryl Crow before reclaiming it.

It looks like nobody has a definite answer. But ... in 'High Water' he even rehashes the old Coo-Coo song!

My other quandary is: Love and Theft vs Time Out Of Mind. I have never quite been able to choose. Perhaps I do rate TOOM higher, but L&T is such a lot of fun.

I mostly like Love & Theft because it's kinda spry and punchy, not what I was expecting after TOOM. A handful of great tunes and a whole bunch of good ones.

i mean, i probably wish that about lots of records, but, you know.

I don't have "Chronicles" handy, but, yeah, he confesses he wasn't happy with Lanois "voodoo" sound. I'm inclined to blame both Lanois' production and Dylan's uneven songwriting.

Not "misguided," but you might as well wish for a pony while you're at it. I think Dylan's been trying, sporadically at least, to recapture that sound for the last 30-odd years.

Just got ambushed by "Honest With Me" on Exponential Radio (this NPR audio channel on TV)--serious banger.

calls down to room service,
says, “send up a room”

knockin’ on the door, i say, “who is it and where are you from?”
man says, “freddy!” i say, “freddy who?” he says, “freddy or not here i come”

Summer Days is so hot. So many great lines, the band is just relentless, and Bob sounds like he is having a blast.

frankiemachine otm 20 years ago ^^

TOOM has maybe higher highs (debatable), but L&T sounds way better, the band is way hotter, it's funnier, and it's much more consistent.

I mean he does sound like the Cowardly Lion half the time on L&T, but that's a bonus in my house.

I just don't get the complains that LAT rates a "zzz." Dylan's phrasing and the mileage he still gets out of that corroded voice would be pleasure enough even if that wondrous backing band wasn't cracking out great riffs.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, May 3, 2005

also otm imo

Love this album (and TOOM) so much - amazing to think at the time "well I'm glad he had one last masterpiece in him" and here we are 24 years later, he's still doing it.

hugely otm alfred

"Lonesome Day" as a performance is still the one that gets me; he's wheezing through a toilet paper roll ("SAAAAAHHHHD und LOANsome DAAAY!").

Feel like a fightin rooster, and he really does

One of the greatest records ever made (for me). I guess there are better Dylan albums but this is the one I’d keep. I find something enthralling about a late-period record that’s truly great, as opposed to to adjusted-expectations-great

“Charlie Sexton may be the worst guitarist ever for him” was once someone’s opinion I guess

He did a five night stand in Chicago touring behind this album, each night in a different venue with a different capacity, most relatively small. I got to see him do three or four of them, and it was a blast.

last night the wind was whisperin
i was trying to make out what it waaaaaaas

I feel like this is the tour where he started to do a cute little on stage shuffle?

the double shuffle
throwin sand on the floor

I don't always love bootleg audience videos, but this one is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSSsmSsfhaE

That It Ain't Me Babe is pretty good, but that thing Bob does with his left leg is so weird.

I saw the show just prior to this one in Philly.

picking up the cherries falling off the plate

xxpost I just noticed he had a guitar in that video! When was the point where he stopped playing guitar? All those times I saw him around this era he was standing around a keyboard usually.

Keyboard became more prominent about a year later

He had hand trouble starting later in the decade.

He had switched to keys when I saw him in 2005.

What a rascal:

When an executive from Columbia stopped by to hear some tracks, Dylan kept alluding to an acoustic version of “Cry a While” that didn’t exist just to yank the executive’s chain. Seeing a new issue of Rolling Stone in the studio featuring Destiny’s Child on the cover, with the cover line “Booty Camp,” Dylan was inspired to slip the phrase “booty call” into “Cry a While.” Dylan told Shaw he wanted to release a live album – but with all the dates and cities listed incorrectly to mess with the heads of Dylanologists.

The Mr. Tambourine Man (second song) on this show from Portsmouth, England about a year before L&T's release . . . what a performance, what a band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIq2xpNgWXE